[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
[August 12, 1997]
[Pages 1096-1098]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the National Emergency With 
Respect to Narcotics Traffickers Centered in Colombia
August 12, 1997

Dear Mr. Speaker:   (Dear Mr. President:)
    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my report 
of October 21, 1996, concerning the national emergency with respect to 
significant narcotics traffickers centered in Colombia that was declared 
in Executive Order 12978 of October 21, 1995. This report is submitted 
pursuant to section 401(c) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 
1641(c), and section 204(c) of the International Emergency Economic 
Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C. 1703(c).
    1. On October 21, 1995, I signed Executive Order 12978, ``Blocking 
Assets and Prohibiting Transactions with Significant Narcotics 
Traffickers'' (the ``Order'') (60 Fed. Reg. 54579, October 24, 1995). 
The Order blocks all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which 
there is any interest of four significant foreign narcotics traffickers, 
one of whom is now deceased, who were principals in the so-called Cali 
drug cartel centered in Colombia. These persons are listed in the Annex 
to the Order. The Order also blocks the property and interests in 
property of foreign persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, 
(a) to play a significant role in international narcotics trafficking 
centered in Colombia or (b) to materially assist in or provide financial 
or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, the 
narcotics trafficking activities of persons designated in or pursuant to 
the Order. In addition the Order blocks all property and interests in 
property subject to U.S. jurisdiction of persons determined by the 
Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and 
the Secretary of State, to be owned or controlled by, or to act for or 
on behalf of, persons designated in or pursuant to the Order 
(collectively ``Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers'' or SDNTs).
    The Order further prohibits any transaction or dealing by a United 
States person or within the United States in property or interests in 
property of SDNTs, and any transaction that evades or avoids, has the 
purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate, the prohibitions 
contained in the Order.

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    Designations of foreign persons blocked pursuant to the Order are 
effective upon the date of determination by the Director of the 
Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) 
acting under authority delegated by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
Public notice of blocking is effective upon the date of filing with the 
Federal Register, or upon prior actual notice.
    2. On October 24, 1995, the Department of the Treasury issued a 
notice containing 76 additional names of persons determined to meet the 
criteria set forth in Executive Order 12978 (60 Fed. Reg. 54582-84, 
October 24, 1995).
    The Department of the Treasury issued another notice adding the 
names of one additional entity and three additional individuals, as well 
as expanded information regarding addresses and pseudonyms, to the list 
of SDNTs on November 29, 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 61288-89).
    On March 8, 1996, OFAC published a notice in the Federal Register 
adding the names of 138 additional individuals and 60 entities 
designated pursuant to the Order, and revising information for 8 
individuals on the list of blocked persons contained in the notices 
published on November 29, 1995, and October 24, 1995 (61 Fed. Reg. 9523-
28).
    3. On January 21, 1997, OFAC published a notice in the Federal 
Register adding the names of 57 individuals and 21 entities designated 
pursuant to the Order, and revising information for 58 individuals and 1 
entity (62 Fed. Reg. 2903-09). In addition, the name of one individual 
specially designated narcotics trafficker was removed from the list. 
These changes were effective January 15, 1997. A copy of the notice is 
attached to this report.
    These 78 new names brought the total list of SDNTs to 359. Each of 
the 78 newly designated entities and individuals has been determined to 
be owned or controlled or to act for or on behalf of the Cali cartel's 
Helmer ``Pacho'' Herrera Buitrago organization. The newly identified 
SDNTs include several large poultry processing plants and farms, 
investment and import/export firms, real estate businesses, a consulting 
firm, a lumber distributor, and a construction company, all located in 
Colombia.
    The additional name and address information includes one previously 
designated company controlled by the Herrera Buitrago family and 58 
previously designated individuals from either the Herrera Buitrago or 
the Rodriguez Orejuela organizations of the Cali cartel. The OFAC, in 
coordination with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is 
continuing to expand the list of SDNTs, including both organizations and 
individuals, as additional information is developed.
    Effective February 28, 1997, OFAC issued the Narcotics Trafficking 
Sanctions Regulations (the ``Regulations'' or NTSR), 31 C.F.R. Part 536, 
to further implement my declaration of a national emergency and 
imposition of sanctions against significant foreign narcotics 
traffickers centered in Colombia (62 Fed. Reg. 9959-68, March 5, 1997). 
A copy of the Regulations is attached to this report.
    4. The OFAC has disseminated and routinely updated details of this 
program to the financial, securities, and international trade 
communities by both electronic and conventional media. In addition to 
bulletins to banking institutions via the Federal Reserve System and the 
Clearing House Interbank Payments System, individual notices were 
provided to all State and Federal regulatory agencies, automated 
clearinghouses, and State and independent banking associations across 
the country. OFAC contacted all major securities industry associations 
and regulators. It posted electronic notices on the Internet and over 10 
computer bulletin boards and 2 fax-on-demand services, and provided the 
same material to the U.S. Embassy in Bogota for distribution to U.S. 
companies operating in Colombia.
    5. As of March 4, 1997, OFAC had issued five specific licenses 
pursuant to Executive Order 12978. These licenses were issued in 
accordance with established Treasury policy authorizing the completion 
of presanctions transactions and the provision of legal services to and 
payment of fees for representation of SDNTs in proceedings within the 
United States arising from the imposition of sanctions.
    6. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from October 21, 1996, through April 20, 1997, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the national emergency with respect to Significant 
Narcotics Traffickers are estimated at approximately $1.1 million. 
Personnel costs were largely centered in the Department of the Treasury 
(particularly in the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Office of the 
General Counsel, and

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the U.S. Customs Service), the Department of Justice, and the Department 
of State.
    7. Executive Order 12978 provides this Administration with a new 
tool for combatting the actions of significant foreign narcotics 
traffickers centered in Colombia, and the unparalleled violence, 
corruption, and harm that they cause in the United States and abroad. 
The Order is designed to deny these traffickers the benefit of any 
assets subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and to prevent 
United States persons from engaging in any commercial dealings with 
them, their front companies, and their agents. Executive Order 12978 
demonstrates the U.S. commitment to end the scourge that such 
traffickers have wrought upon society in the United States and abroad.
    The magnitude and the dimension of the problem in Colombia--perhaps 
the most pivotal country of all in terms of the world's cocaine trade--
is extremely grave. I shall continue to exercise the powers at my 
disposal to apply economic sanctions against significant foreign 
narcotics traffickers and their violent and corrupting activities as 
long as these measures are appropriate, and will continue to report 
periodically to the Congress on significant developments pursuant to 50 
U.S.C. 1703(c).
        Sincerely,

                                                      William J. Clinton

Note: Identical letters were sent to Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives, and Albert Gore, Jr., President of the Senate. This 
letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on August 13.